Anonymous steps up its war with Scientology

Images of the Earth and nature are used in a video address to major news organizations.

A group of vigilantes--calling themselves Anonymous, or Anon--are escalating their attacks against the Church of Scientology in what they consider to be Internet censorship by issuing new video challenges. In one video posted to YouTube, Anonymous addresses the many news organizations covering the war, stating that the group has been watching. While the individuals behind the effort generally support the coverage, they also severely fault the media.

"We find it interesting that you did not mention the other objections in your news reporting. The stifling and punishment of dissent within the totalitarian organization of Scientology. The numerous, alleged human rights violations. Such as the treatment and events that led to the deaths of victims of the cult such as Lisa McPherson.

This Cult is Nothing but a psychotically driven pyramid scheme.

Why are you, the news media, afraid of discussing these matters? It is your duty to report on these matters.You are failing in your duty."

Lisa McPherson was a member of the Flag Service Organization, a branch of the Church of Scientology, whose death in 1995 remains controversial. Although the Church of Scientology was initially held responsible, felony charges against it were dropped when the medical examiner ruled her death was an accident. A civil suit against the church by McPherson's parents was settled in 2004.

At one point in the video, Anonymous says, perhaps in response to its growing numbers of critics, "this is not religious persecution, but the suppression of a powerful, criminal fascist regime."

A request for comment from the Church of Scientology has not yet been answered.

A person wearing a motorcycle helmet addresses followers of Scientology in a second video.

On Friday, Anonymous also posted on YouTube a second YouTube video to the Church of Scientology, this time addressed to its many followers.

"Your religious beliefs are not wrong, like any other religion, and they are yours to keep. However beliefs should not come at a price. Not from your wallet or compromising your thoughts.

Those who have left feel a new life, a rebirth into true freedom. You can join them if you wish. You may not believe us. We ask of you one thing: Make up your own mind. That is a sentence of more profound meaning for you now than at any other time in your life."

Both videos continue a trend in using a computer-generated voice over stylized video. A Web site called Project Chanology continues to detail present and future actions by Anonymous and others.

[`WarpKat]

Commander Spock

I call on you to halt your mindless banter on C|<br />Net's forums. I shall not hide under a <br />motorcycle helmet. I shall not disguise my <br />voice. I shall not change my name.<br /><br />That is all.

[Andy kaufman]

It has been tried by better people than you

people like Orion Blastar, Proustian, Parallax Rebel, The Decider, Penguinisto, and myself have said the same things to Commander Spock.<br /><br />But he keeps spreading his OS/2tology Message on C| Net's forums, and speaking about how MS-Excel doesn't have an ERR function. I wrote an ERR function in Excel VBA Visual BASIC here:<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.news.com/5208-13860_3-0.html?forumID=2&#38;threadID=34504&#38;messageID=370441" target="_newWindow">http://www.news.com/5208-13860_3-0.html?forumID=2&#38;threadID=34504&#38;messageID=370441</a><br /><br />It is based on a math formula that Commander Spock gave me, and he said it is the very same formula that OS/2 uses, and Lotus 123 3.0 for OS/2 uses that modern Lotus 123 for Windows and MS-Excel don't use.<br /><br />So if Spock continues that ERR doesn't exist in MS-Excel, link him to that post of mine and the NewERR function, as proof that he is wrong.<br /><br />The NewERR function is open sourced, so anyone can use it freely. I don't even make a dime off of it. It is my gift to the rest of the world, and people and companies that need the ERR function in MS-Excel, and it can freely be ported to other programs and spreadsheets as well.

[atrench]

here is the first two messages

Anonymous has been "at war" since the 18th<br /><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ" target="_newWindow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ</a><br /><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVuoLqgbXoE" target="_newWindow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVuoLqgbXoE</a>

[Another Surfer]

Not surprisingly, that video has been removed

Just sayin'...<br /><br />Too bad we can't see it. Wonder what "terms of use" were violated? (That's the message one gets on clicking the link provided in this article.)

[Andy kaufman]

Gawker has mirrored the video

right here:<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress" target="_newWindow">http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress</a><br /><br />You can view the video on the gawker page and judge for yourself.<br /><br />Youtube had to remove it, due to cease and desist letters from the CoS, but Gawker still has a copy on their web site.

[Jimthe1st]

Hit List

You should be careful when you criticize Sientology, you could end up on their most secret hit list...! They believe very very strongly in deadly retaliation.

[grahamesd]

If it were anyone else the outcry would be deafening

Step 1. Demonize a group so people think it is weird/strange/dangerous.<br />Step 2. Attack it and no one will lift a finger because you succeeded in step 1.<br /><br />It's an old, well tried formula. It worked for the Nazis in WWII. It seems to be working now for "Anonymous".<br /><br />So they can bring down the web site of the largest human rights educational program in the world and no one complains. They can bring down the web site of the largest anti-drug educational campaign in the world and no one complains. They can bring down the web site of the largest disaster volunteer organization in the world and no one complains.<br /><br />Nice work "Anon". I just hope you don't get caught in an earthquake/hurricane/mud slide and need someone to pull you out because they may not get to you - their web site is down.

[krosavcheg]

Godwin's law Mr.Scientologist

Anonymous doesn't have to 'demonize' Scientology.<br /><br />They demonized themselves with their actions, yet they attempt to use their legal team to cover up any indication of that. <br /><br />And as for those 'wonderful sites':<br />An Anti-drug program that brainwashes them into hating every drug and believing that mental problems are myths? Nice...

[Penguinisto]

Oh? This is news...

Sorry kid, but I disagree. <br /><br />I've lived in Utah for years... and while not a Mormon myself, I can say with certainty that there are attacks against that organization that make this little spat seem tame (and they've been enduring it for long, long before L. Ron. Hubbard was even a gamete in his daddy's reproductive sac). We're talking old-school guns, lynch mobs, and torches type stuff - not some limp-noodle "Oh-My-Xenu-He-Posted-Our-S3kr4t-Stuffz-on-teh-Intarwebs!" bit.<br /><br />So in the spirit of proportion, could you kindly take off that Drama Queen costume of yours and put it the frig away? Thx in advance.<br /><br /><br />/P

[Libraesque]

HA!!!!

yea, and when the $cienos get there to "help" you, you better have about $250,000.00 ready. EVERYONE knows that the ONLY thing they bring to disaster sites are folding chairs and pamphlets. THEY DO NOT BRING WATER, FOOD, SUPPLIES, BLANKETS ETC....so QUIT lying

[Pooua]

Expose Abusive Cults

Although I am not familiar with the group of Anon, I have seen what mind-control cults do. The Church of Scientology provokes the first warning flag by silencing any publication of its doctrines or teachings, under the excuse that it is protecting copyrighted works. That should immediately disqualify it from consideration as a legitimate religion. People have a right to know what they are dealing with and what they are getting into. The Church of Scientology aggressively works to violate that right.

[coolblu]

scary stuff.....but I'm not scared

Complete agreement with pooau...Having wandered into a scientology "Reading room" at one point in my life, I was astounded at how much pressure they put on the "Candidate" (You will comply!) from the get go. I feined naiveness and they pounced! I have since heard many stories of people being called non-stop, showing up at work places, followed, and much worse. Their litigiousness is well documented. A simple buy your way into heaven scheme...that they have a membership at all is testament of human stupidity.<br />F" them and Tom Cruise too.<br />Anon should take a look at Mormons as well...somethin more than a little weird there too.

[Leria]

All religions are abusive

Because they all ask you to deny reality: the reality that there is no 'god' who created us (maybe a group of powerful, highly evolved beings who were NOT gods created this universe), that there is no such things as 'creation' as written in most religious texts, and that there is no such things as 'good' and 'evil' but those are value judgments placed on other people by another group of people in most cases, outside of the big three 'true evils' of killing someone else (regardless of why you did it), stealing from someone else (and there has to be some PHYSICAL loss there), and forcing someone into sex with threats of force or actual physical force (which most pedosexuals who are called on this do NOT do).

[DRBoisse]

War in our minds!

We could ruminate over war and peace and reflect on history? We could site examples of the current information age warfare underway and reference ideological battles? These targets and weapons are ?information.? <br /><br />Nonetheless, what if we ponder our individual pursuit of peace? You know? that sometimes neglected and elusive human need? ?inner peace.? Where the battleground this time is not warring countries, but within your own mind -- the terrain is in your brain! And ?you? are the one who is in charge of your mind. Disregarding your own thoughts and feelings and blindly listening to another?s ethics or having persistent negative thoughts, habits and emotions will create internal conflict and fuel that war within. Your feelings, thoughts and knowledge are ?information.? How you use your own free will and power to think and act to feel good is up to you. <br /><br />This is not an attempt at promoting some sort of mass disenchantment. Nor is this an assertion of ultimate neurological, psychological or spiritual truth. This is merely about acknowledging what we can all notice when we look within. That is, having a free mind promotes inner harmony. A mind free of internal conflicts and a body free of negative emotions will allow us to achieve the inner harmony we need to thrive. <br /><br />There is a desire in all of us to find comfort and tranquility. You may find peace and truth in your mind, your heart, your spirit and in your own way. Remember to keep your mind open, as you never know exactly when, or from whom you will obtain useful ?information.?

[wbdace]

Unfortunatly I bought the book

I don't know about Scientology killing anyone, but from what I do know, the people running it are making big bucks off of credulous people. Many years ago, when Hubbard first published "Dianetics" I was conned into buying a copy. After reading a few chapters, I concluded I was a bunch of utter BS and figured I'd been taken for the price. Unfortunately, the people who joined this cult get taken for a lot more than that!

[knack4]

More to the point...

Whatever the story may be with those Scientologists... what the clueless media are doing is elevating a bunch of clowns to a status they don't even remotely deserve.<br /><br />"Anonymous" is nothing but a bullying lot of cowardly miscreants who engage in more or less random net-vandalism. And not particularly competent as hackers go.<br /><br />There's one interesting aspect to this however. The Scientologists are supposed to be relentless when they're riled. Would be amusing if they managed to whip the covers off these nasty little gangsta's.

[zmanzero2]

they killed her

enough said. it is evil.

[savagesteve13]

Scientologists, Mormons, Aum-Shrnrikyo

Cults, all of them. People fall for cults when they have a multitude of personal weaknesses, and cults exploit those weaknesses for either personal gain or actual religious fanaticism.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, mainstream religions do that as well, but the hallmark of any cult is secrecy.

[tarky7]

Video Pulled from YouTube

Obviously, these guys are getting to the heart of the matter. That video from the first link is already down.<br /><br />Go Anon ! Scientology is a pyramid scheme created by a drug addicted flim-flam man L. Ron Hubbard.

[tarky7]

Oh Yeah ?

"So they can bring down the web site of the largest human rights educational program in the world and no one complains. They can bring down the web site of the largest anti-drug educational campaign in the world and no one complains. They can bring down the web site of the largest disaster volunteer organization in the world and no one complains."<br /><br />You mean those 'shill' organizations that trumpet 'helping others' while these groups are nothing but shells for the Co$, recruiting the most vulnerable into their 'church'. Say what you want, the Co$ is neither a 'church' nor anything good, it is an Evil Enterprise that Eats it Followers. Read some of the information out there that the Co$ has suppressed, A Piece of Blue Sky, John Atak

[ryaninve]

Ron L

Hasn't anyone seen the interveiws with RON L HUBBARD where he admits Sceintology was his invention and people still dont get the joke he was a sceince FICTION writer work it out from there

[sk8orbike]

End it all!

It is funny that a group like this would make attacks against Scientology, not that I would be an idiot that believes in martians such as Zenu. It would really be ironic if it were a Christian group, especially considering that Christians have caused more deaths in it's history than Scientology could ever cause in the next 1000 years, imagine the hipocracy. Personally, I say end all Organized religion.

[gabeheim]

That's right, put them all...

in concentration camps. Execute the people who refuse to turn away from religion. Create mass gas chambers and ovens to cremate them. Call it the final solution to religious murder.. Oh crap, that sounds like what Hitler did. Any time someone says lets get rid of them all, they so ignorantly fail to understand what that really means, and that someone has tried that before, and it's called genocide. (Get rid of the native americans, jews, armenians, tutsis...) Each one of these persecuted groups was scapegoated and blamed for problems just as you blame those who follow organized religion. Perhaps genocide is not what you had in mind, but it would be the end result of the final solution you babble about.

[Libraesque]

seriously

who gives a **** about the history of killings in Christianity? This is about the here and now and trying to help these cult members

[awinkle]

Publicity Stunt

I think this is all just a publicity stunt by the Church of Scientology. They love to play the victim.

[Fenwick67]

Why not just say "4chan"?

Anyone with half a brain knows it's all 4Chan users, yet noone says it publicly. Why?

[krosavcheg]

Because it has grown MUCH larger than just 4chan.

Besides actually I think this started on one of the dozens of other #chans.<br /><br />But since it has grown to include YTMND, all the Chans, Something Awful, a couple of other unamed sites, a couple of online clans, Gaia, art sites.<br /><br />Even groups that would usually be 4chan's arch enemies are working with it.

[krispykrew]

Don't be stupid

Anonymous consists of moar than just 4Chan. -_o<br /><br />Many people who go to the protests have never posted on any *Chan and get their knowledge from the not **** based religionisfree.org rather than the /b/**** information source.<br /><br />Plus all the other *Chans and the ED IRC are involved.<br /><br />To clarify, the hate of Co$ was begun in 4Chan; however, peaceful protest became an idea from the wise and bearded mouth of Wise Beard Man.

[sir anon]

Why not just say "ebaums"?

Everyone knows it was them.

[Ruzzy2]

Because they aren't.

Anonymous isn't just ebaums members. Infact, most anon members hate Ebaums. Ebaums pisses everyone off. Anonymous does good things.

[ToasterToad]

Is that the worst villain they could find?

A con outfit that convinces dumb actors to fork over their cash and act nutty? That's what Anonymous denounces as a "totalitarian fascist" organization? Umm, excuse me, there's a REAL totalitarian fascist organization openly murdering and torturing people with American taxpayer money, spying on all of us, and ******** on the Constitution - it's called the Republican Party. Or maybe Anonymous is just too chickenshit to take on serious villains.

[gabeheim]

Because the Republican party...

is scrutinized in the media, and one would be ignorant to think that it is the republican party itself that is a threat to freedom. Those that think that would elect a democrat who would threaten their freedom as well. The only difference between bush and clinton is that bush was able to get momentum from 911 to do what he wanted. The true threat is from gov't organizations that must be monitored. (We need an FBI, but someone always needs to keep an eye on them).<br /><br />Now, regarding Sci. They are not transparent and do a lot more than brainwash actors. They manipulate gov'ts and are a threat to many liberties. I would shudder if they got their members into the presidency or congress. This is a religion that will stalk and destroy you if you speak out against them. Just look at the british reporter that was investigating them. They followed him everywhere and sent PI's after him. He eventually broke down under the pressure, which scientology then published a video of his breakdown in order to humiliate him. They have been accused of doing far much more as well. If Sci. wants to remove this cloud, why don't they open up?

[anon080213]

Unskilled Legion

The Anonymous legion is probably still unskilled enough to hack into GOP's bank account and forcibly donate their money to help the poor and sick.

[Libraesque]

so

what you're saying by calling them chickenshits is that no one should bother taking on dangerous cults, or any other totalitarian fascist organizations, everyone should just lay down and take it and only concern themselves with the government?<br />yea, NO.<br /><br />I can tell by this comment "A con outfit that convinces dumb actors to fork over their cash and act nutty?" that you haven't bothered to EDUCATE yourself on this cult.<br /><br />Listen honey, I'd be plenty nervous about an aggressive, determined cult, whose #2 man said "soon, SP's (suppressive people, that means YOU, and everyone else who doesn't believe in $cientology) will be something we only read about in history books"<br />think mayhem can't happen? I have one name for you...HITLER

[andy.galeano]

Good story.

Interesting story, thanks for posting it. I feel bad for lost people who may waste lots of money on something like Scientology. -=Andy

[Arthur Blenton]

Now raising the next legions

For more info:<br /><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology" target="_newWindow">http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology</a><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://partyvan.info.nyud.net/index.php/Project_Chanology" target="_newWindow">http://partyvan.info.nyud.net/index.php/Project_Chanology</a><br /><br />Learn to hack like a pro: <br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.metasploit.com/confs/blackhat2007/tactical_paper.pdf" target="_newWindow">http://www.metasploit.com/confs/blackhat2007/tactical_paper.pdf</a><br /><br />BackTrack3: Super Hardcore pentest distro!:<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack_download.html" target="_newWindow">http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack_download.html</a>

[sir anon]

<3

Post a link to SciDBomb. lol

[anon080213]

Kiddy Legion?

I don't get it! What are they trying to archive?<br />Publicly hosting their plan on a typical website with social collaborative software? Why aren't they even using a censorship-resistant distributed anonymous data store for their projects? Wait! Fighting the censorship of Scientology? Don't they know how to steganographically encoding one video within another? What ever happened to using encryption?<br /><br />Are the legions kids? Has they ever went to and worked in a country where police can break in without warrants, take away your computers, data dump the entire hard drive, put a gun to your head, force you to enter your login password, copy all the files, and detain your for over two weeks while they analyzing your files? Was they ever in possession of a document while in a country that outlawed said document as well as use of encryption technology? Had they ever memorized the code of a steganography program?